Bluegrass Fiddle and Beyond

The Fiddle Handbook is a treasure trove of information spanning the whole range of fiddle playing. It looks in detail at the most commonly played styles among today's fiddlers. From America there's old time bluegrass Cajun Western swing country blues rock klezmer and jazz while from the British Isles there's Irish Scottish and English. There is also a quick romp through Eastern Europe and beyond from the spike fiddles of Africa and Asia to the Chinese Erhu the fabulous Indian Sarangi and the mysterious Norwegian Hardingfele.A wealth of musical examples - ornaments bowing patterns scales modes exercises and complete tunes - arefaithfully reproduced on the accompanying CDs to give you a taste of each style. And finally the book answers once and for all the hoary old question 'What's the difference between a fiddle and a violin?' The answer of course is that fiddle players have more fun...

This book/2-CD pack delivers the meat & potatoes of bluegrass Mandolin way beyond just teaching fiddle tunes! Players will discover how to find their way around the neck using common double stops develop creative back-up skills play solos to vocal tunes in the style of Bill Monroe make up their own solos and a whole lot more. For the average learner this pack represents nearly two years' worth of lessons! Includes two instructional CDs: one plays every example in the book and the second contains 32 songs performed by a bluegrass band with the Mandolin parts separated on the right channel.

DVD 3-Move beyond the basics and get into the finer points of bluegrass flatpicking. You''ll be jamming with the best of them once you've mastered the tunes and techniques on this final DVD in this series.Steve Kaufman broadens your musical vocabulary by focusing on the essentials of good picking techniques. You'll learn to play six classic fiddle tunes - Liberty Salt Creek Blackberry Blossom Clarinet Polka Home Sweet Home and Ragtime Annie. Steve slows each one down highlighting the tricky areas and then playing it up-to-speed so you'll hear how it should sound in performance.You'll learn how to dress up your solos usingslides arpeggios bends accents and a variety of intros and endings. Detailed instruction in the intricacies of crosspicking will help give your playing more rhythmic appeal and style. Steve devotes much-needed attention to one of the most challenging areas for intermediate players - how to build speed - giving you invaluable advice on practicing testing yourself and perfecting left and right hand positions to help you accomplish your goals.